Things I have learned from Anglu
Thanks to Anglu Farrugia’s interview in The Sunday Times, I am now very much the wiser.
- He has contacted the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to report the fact that agents of the Nationalist Party bought votes from Labour drug addicts.
- He will raise the issue at a meeting of the OSCE next week.
- “There were particular ministers in a caretaker’s role issuing particular permits to particular families.”
- “The Labour Party didn’t have major importers delivering white goods for free to certain individuals in Cottonera in the run-up to, and on the day of, the election.”
- He knows of people who had a “kitty” of €250,000 to hand out to voters. During election week, they paid €115, €172 and up to €345 per vote. They used the cash to convince people, “mainly Labour-leaning”, not to vote.
- Malta has never engaged international observers for its elections. But it should.
- He disagrees with those who say that he and Otello detract from Joseph Muscat’s image. And he is sorry for them.
- The Labour supporters to whom he has spoken all have the same thing to say: that it is important for Joseph Muscat to have people like Anglu Farrugia behind him.
The most fascinating of Farrugia’s comments were those about Malta and EU membership. His interviewer, Herman Grech, quoted at him something he had said only five years ago: “I believe we should have stuck to our interpretation of the referendum result: that we had won.” Farrugia didn’t miss a beat (having a brass neck is very useful): “Five years ago, the Labour Party had adopted this position. We have changed a lot. You’re going back five years.”
Five years, eh? That’s a long time in the lifespan of a hamster. Isn’t it to be expected that a normal, sentient adult should change his opinion on an issue so fundamental? Look at all those people out there who voted Yes and who are now saying that they made a mistake and should have voted No. Labour and the EU: mad-daqqa, iz-zifna.
Herman Grech tried again, and asked him whether he thinks that the Labour Party’s stance against EU membership in 2003 was mistaken. He tried in vain. Remember, this is the party of brass neck that we are dealing with. Anglu Farrugia: “We failed to do something at the time. Once the referendum was won by the Yes vote…” – oh, so the Yes vote won, did it? I thought Partnership did – … “even if my interpretation at the time was different, we should have gone to the electorate and said that we would respect its decision. And we would have won the election!”
Let me get this straight. Anglu Farrugia is saying here that the Labour Party should have decided to respect the decision of the electorate in the referendum not because democracy demanded it, nor because that is what had to be done, but as a strategic move to win the election. Unbelievable. Well, not quite unbelievable, because this is Anglu Farrugia we’re talking about.
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It’s self-centred thinking but then, what could you expect of someone who captions a photo “Dr. Anglu Farrugia with director of the famous firm Mahatma Ghandi” ?
http://www.anglufarrugia.com/modules/xcgal2/displayimage.php?pid=14&album=2&pos=3
It seems that Anglu and MLP think that winning an election, and thus leading our country for the next 5 years or so, is like playing a game of football. You know, like Italy did, 1st they play in a certain way for 2 years, then get a trashing in their 1st game in the Euro 2008 competition, then change tactics as if nothing has happened to be able to scrape through the next phase…
Except that politics and country leadership is not a game. PN has been consistently in favour of Malta joining the EU ever since 1964 (that’s almost 45 years). In politics, you are expected to change policies to move with the signs of the times, but MLP seem to think that changing policies (more making U-Turns actually) only is viable if it makes you win elections. Oh well.. Some things never change, MLP is one of them.
Here’s more:
Dr. Anglu Farrugia with the Minister of Forgein Affairs of India.
http://www.anglufarrugia.com/modules/xcgal2/displayimage.php?album=2&pos=2&pid=13
India visit – Dr. Anglu Farrugia with the minister of Political Affairs of India
http://www.anglufarrugia.com/modules/xcgal2/displayimage.php?album=2&pos=1&pid=11
India visit – Dr. Anglu Farrugia receiving a small bronze statue of mohatma ghandi from the keeper of the Ghandi Musulema in April 2007
http://www.anglufarrugia.com/modules/xcgal2/displayimage.php?album=2&pos=0&pid=12
India visit – Dr. Anglu Farrugia with the Minister of Information Technology of India
http://www.anglufarrugia.com/modules/xcgal2/displayimage.php?album=2&pos=4&pid=15
Anglu Farrugia with Malta’s Honorary Council General for Malta in India with the family in his home (At least this lot are smiling)
http://www.anglufarrugia.com/modules/xcgal2/displayimage.php?album=2&pos=9&pid=6
It seems no one in India has a name – at least, no one Dr Anglu Farrugia met. (Key marketing tactic – never name the competition).
Here’s more about the famous lawyer.
No one in India, it seems, has a name
India visit – Dr. Anglu Farrugia receiving a small bronze statue of mohatma ghandi from the keeper of the Ghandi Musulema in April 2007
http://www.anglufarrugia.com/modules/xcgal2/displayimage.php?album=2&pos=0&pid=12
India visit – Dr. Anglu Farrugia with the minister of Political Affairs of India
http://www.anglufarrugia.com/modules/xcgal2/displayimage.php?album=2&pos=1&pid=11
India visit – Dr. Anglu Farrugia with the Minister of Forgein Affairs of India
http://www.anglufarrugia.com/modules/xcgal2/displayimage.php?album=2&pos=2&pid=13
India visit – Dr. Anglu Farrugia with the Minister of Information Technology of India
http://www.anglufarrugia.com/modules/xcgal2/displayimage.php?album=2&pos=4&pid=15
Anglu Farrugia with Malta’s Honorary Council General for Malta in India with the family in his home
http://www.anglufarrugia.com/modules/xcgal2/displayimage.php?album=2&pos=9&pid=6
(At least this lot are smiling)
@Corinne
They do have names in India, but if our Anglu can’t spell ‘Forgein’ (and I’m not sure about ‘mohatma’ too), how can you expect he spells correctly Indian names?
@Corinne Vella – It’s just as well he doesn’t name his hosts given that he can’t even spell Gandhi right. And what on earth is a musulema? Perhaps he means mausoleum?
Amazing that he or whoever wrote the photo comments did not even spell check it. Gives me the feeling that the only important thing was showing off how many shoulders he rubbed.
He does seem to have trouble with the spelling of, among other words, Gandhi. He seems to be confusing it with the Maltese word `ghandi`.
For bringing embarrassment on the party, Muscat should make him write `Ghandi ritratt ma Gandhi` a thousand times.
Let’s be fair. Maybe it wasn’t Anglu Farrugia who captioned those photos.
Roma: It’s not a feeling, it’s a fact. The designation of the people in the photos is more important than who they are as people unless, of course, their name is Dr Anglu Farrugia.
Apart from all the spelling mistakes (firm instead of film) etc. who gives a heck about what he did in India!! and what prompted him to go to India in the first place?? was it to be some kind of joint venture like the Dubai one? cant think of any other reason else to show off – these politicians dont care or give a heck about our Spettur
@Isa
It must have been some inter-parliamentary thingie – there’s Jason Azzopardi in some of the photos.
What’s the big deal here? Here’s another way of putting it: in 2003 Alfred Sant was the MLP head and he came up with the ‘Partnership Rebah’ slogan, roping in the party and the whole anti-membership movement with him. It was one of his many mistakes. The mistake of the rest was to follow him rather than revolt against him – which is easier said with hindsight.
So after the 2003 elections MLP accepted EU membership – which was not really up for contention since the referendum result is final. Accepting membership as a fact, however, does not mean blindly accepting any future EU development. It is in this context that you all depict pollyanna views (or non-views, rather) about the future development of the EU. We even had big-shot journalists visiting from Malta lately (guests of Sajmint Buzurtin Emmeepee) who have no idea what the Lisbon treaty is about. I find that more than sad – it’s ridiculous to the extreme.
Oh, Kev – I was supposed to be on that trip with all the other big-shot journalists you mention, but I had a prior engagement (no, not with Lawrence and Kate to turn down the post of party secretary-general). We could have yakked about the Lisbon Treaty, my favourite topic in all the world.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20080625/local/man-accused-of-trying-to-blackmail-mp
Indeed, Daphne, what a lost opportunity. You’d have fitted in nicely for a group photo beneath the Maniken Pis. And you even missed a visit to Her Highness the Queen at Molta Haws.
Look out for a Casanobis Brussels gita next, I hear they’re more rowdy and whole lot more fun, especially after drinks.
Kev: Partnership was not just a slogan, as you well know, nor was it just ‘one of his many mistakes’. The referendum shenanigans, including the creation of a rival ‘product’ called partnership, were a calculated attempt to sabotage the referendum and undermine the validity of its outcome, with the aim of scoring enough political points to get into government. Anyone with pretensions to intelligence and political nous knew that from the outset.
As for the rest making a mistake and following their leader, that too was a calculated move. The people who followed their leader ranked their position within the MLP above all else and banked on riding into power on basis of deception. It wasn’t any brave matter of principle, then, but an example of political opportunism taken to the extreme.
I don’t deny that there are some people who truly believe that a referendum is just another opportunity for a sloganeering campaign to acquire enough political power to get into government. Anglu Farrugia is one of those people. Foolishly he declared as much in his interview with Herman Grech in the Sunday Times, as he clearly sees nothing wrong with that.
As for not following the leader being easier said than done, that’s all just so much nonsense. Sharon Ellul Bonici was one person who stood her ground. George Abela, for different reasons, was another.
@Corinne – Okay, ‘Partnership’ was not a slogan but a strategy; what I said is that ‘Partnership Rebah’ was a slogan. Of course you can say it is the continuation of the ‘strategy’ but to my mind it was just a slogan because it was not followed by any explanations and not pursued at all.
As to your second assertion – you seem to be expecting too much from a flock. Just like the PN flock, it follows its leader.
What I find fascinating is that the EU “debate” in Malta is limited to this scruffy recent past, and apart from Daphne, whose “favourite topic in all the world” is the Lisbon Treaty, no one is debating the future of the EU and Malta’s prospects.
LngLvLllpt, I say.
Congrats Daphne – I read the paragraphs regarding the referendum results and interpretation three times and ended up none the wiser. The only consolation is that I suppose Anglu did`nt really know either.
What amazes me is how brazen faced politicians can be. Saying they are now in favour of the EU. Remember, these are people who studied the facts in detail and after examining everything came to the conclusion that the EU spelt disaster and they did their utmost to keep us out.
Kev: “no one is debating the future of the EU and Malta’s prospects.” That’s just not true. People are debating it. It’s just that they’re doing so where you can see and hear what they’re saying. I’ve said this before – why don’t you start up a blog on the subject? You seem to have the tenacity for it (no, I’m not being sarcastic).
…and did no one notice that in a reply to the interviewer our super sleuth categorically stated that all the bombs planted on doorsteps in bad 80’s were put there ‘by Nationalists’.
Please, please, please, don’t tell me that Dr Farrugia thinks he met Richard Attenborough, the film director of the even more famous film ‘Gandhi’.
@ Kieli – heq don’t bring that up. I suggest you go and read the 80’s newspapers. Try to keep an open mind. Try not to be biased and try to find a reason why would the Labour government supporters plant certain bombs, for example, near the Sliema Police station.
And if it was MLP’s doing, why didn’t the PN government (1987) give some thousands of pounds in compansation to the policeman who was seriously injured (whilst on duty on that occasion) like they gave RCC when Zeppi L-Hafi stabbed him.
@ Corinne, tenacity there is, but time is limited, especially when you’re dealing in the politics of a conglomeration of 27 member states with 22 languages at a supranational level. Malta’s turn will soon come, however… but surely not a blog. Besides, there’s the mfy ‘graffiti wall’ which I’ve been wanting to demolish for some time…
If, as you say, people are debating it, then what can I say? This ‘debate’ is not reflected in the media. What’s a debate without the media? Perhaps this reflects another problem: the nation is not mature enough.
@Xewka
If by the 80’s newspapers you mean the labour papers, then its a non-starter. You might as well read Zimbabwe’s state newspaper to get an idea of the situation there, because they are exactly the same in tone and content.
If all you read and watched in those times were the orizzont and Xandir Malta, then you were as much a victim of the regime as those it victimised, but 20 years later there is enough information, enough sworn testimony and enough court judgements to see that. There is no need to make a great effort to keep an open mind. All you need to do is have one.
The 70’s and 80’s were a concerted effort at creating a left wing police state supported by violence, corruption, torture, intimidation, persecution, suppression of the press, suppression of freedom of association, suppression of freedom of education and on and on and on. The labour party surrounded itself with violent people and even embedded them in the police force, which became an instrument of oppression rather than a protector of our citezenry.
I read the newspapers. I also lived the times. So did many others. And we’re not about to go awsy. So you can give up on your attempt to re-write history. You’re not going to get anywhere.
Xewka: “Why would the Labour government supporters plant certain bombs, for example, near the Sliema Police station.”
For the same reasons that non-Labour agent provocateurs would put bombs or their own or their neighbours’ doorsteps?
Which 80s’ newspapers were you thinking of? L-Orizzont? The one that was not allowed to publish its name? Or the one that MLP supporters tried to burn down?
Chris I (formerly known as Chris): It’s Ghandi, not Gandhi – and the name’s Mohatma.
Incidentally, Mahatma Gandhi is the only person who had the honour of being named in those captions. Maybe it’s because he’s dead and is no competition.
Me: Maybe that’s why Peter Muscat’s gone quiet.
The irrevocably resigned, great ex-leader is at it again – Generazjoni Gdida – Generazjoni Rebieha – LOL
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20080625/local/sant-relaunches-attack-against-pullicino-orlando
Xewka – First of all, it’s compEnstion (dead elf giveaway). Secondly, if I recall correctly, the bomb “near the Sliema police station” was actually at a house NEXT to the station – where a female nurse (then aged around 55/60)lived.
Kev: One member of that flock that followed its leader is now leader of the MLP. Who’s he following now? Please don’t say ‘Schulz’.
Corinne – If it wasn’t Anglu who captioned those photos, the very least he could have done was appoint somebody with better spelling/grammar. (This is, of course, if he would notice the terrible syntax/spelling himself.)
Dear Daphne & readers
Remember that people like Anglu Farrugia are not wiser than those angels we see and admire as part of paintings adorning baroque churches…eye-catching but speechless, with many-a-time bare-bottom counterbalancing their holy, sweety looks.
Anglu is a guarantee of Labour’s future failures in Malta and Gozo. This round-about u-turning minded boycotted by powers to be in Hamrun thinks that he’s God’s gift to these islands, a solid pillar on which Joseph’s moderates and progressive will rely on in times of difficulty…as if! With Toni Abela on the other side, Joseph Muscat is much worse off than his previous lord Alfred sent-to-oblivion Sant.
Now we have a silly preacher (Joseph il-ginger bearded Meschino), Toni vaccumed brain Abela and the formidable unintelligent Anglu, the dreamer. It’s a pity Anglu missed the Pharaohs…he could have interpreted the 7 years of misery as the Malta Labour Party’s next seven years of disasterous and babylonic frenzies under his Deputy(-sinking-)ship…maybe the MLP will feel the need to put Anglu on ebay for privitisation! Wow!
Welcome El Karlariz – another poster who thinks that political debate should consists solely of insulting your opponents and inventinf cute nicknames is just what we wanted here.
Chris II, would you care to comment about the CONTENT of Sant’s speech?
What do you think that JPO should do?
What do you think Gonzi should do?
Are you happy for the PN Gov to depends on JPO’s vote?
Corinne Vella asked Xewka “Which 80s’ (sic) newspapers were you thinking of? L-Orizzont? The one that was not allowed to publish its name? Or the one that MLP supporters tried to burn down?”
Perhaps he was thinking of the MLP newspaper which a PN Gov. tried to ban from all gov. departments and hospitals, and was sharply slapped down by a British court.
You really must do somethig about that selective memory.
@Corinne, perhaps he’s following his instincts?
But if you want a clearer answer – he’s following the EU mainstream bandwagon just as any mainstream politician does. Otherwise, I don’t think he needs anyone to pull his strings – not locally. As for him being a Sant clone – well, his visible style is definitely different (and shrewder).
Ganni Borg: Yes I said “80s'”. 80s is plural; the apostrophe denotes the possessive. “80’s” denotes the possessive form of “1980”
And no, I wouldn’t imagine Xewka meant the paper you mention.
I’m afraid I can’t help you with your selective memory. That’s somethig (sic) that you’ll have to deal with on your own.
Kev: That’s interesting. I never said that Muscat is following Sant, though I noted that he did. I was just wondering why someone who is so independent of mind should follow someone whose beliefs are contrary to his own.
@Chris II
Instead of writing LOL all over the place, you should ask yourself why Joe Saliba on Tv said that IF IT WERE HIM IN THE SITUATION, he would resign. In the 80s the PN used to say “IS-SEWWA JIRBAH ZGUR”. But those were the days of PN VALURI. Long lost and buried.
Ganni Borg, if you’re feeling isolated, bring in some of your friends. You ask whether some of the people here are happy to have the government depend on Pullicino Orlando’s vote. Ask yourself why Pullicino Orlando stands out so easily that he can be picked upon. Now I am going to reverse the question. Are you happy that the opposition depends on the votes of selected nutters, pinnuri, tax-dodgers and a leader who thinks that policy on the EU depends on what it pays him and his political party to say, rather than on what is right for the country?
You can’t highlight the Pullicino Orlandos in the Labour Party because it’s jam-packed full of much, much worse than that. The trouble is that over the years we have come to accept the Labour Party as being a collection of crackpots, cheats and irresponsible individuals. How can you trust the judgment of somebody who campaigns against the EU one minute on the grounds that it will be disastrous for Malta (and this when he had a degree in European Studies) and then decides that it’s OK after all, purely on the basis of his experience as an MEP. U hallina.
Corinne, you lost me there. Who’s following who? As to the Sant Clone Theory, that comes from Daphne – I tend to lump you both into one basket, sorry.
@Ganni Borg – one great thing about this site is the ‘inventiF’ spelling used by pro-MLP contributors.
‘Trying’ to ban a newspaper is not the same as burning the entire building – AND the persons inside -from where a newspaper is published.
There is also a significant difference between the two cases. In the former, as GB states, the British [sic] Court declared itself against the ban and in favour of free exchange of opinions – and from which declaration GB and other elves freely benefit now, the latter [MLP era] case, any Judge showing any such inclinations was quickly transferred – in one instance, actually in mid-hearing.
Kev: I asked first. Your answer’s above. It seems you haven’t read it yourself.
Corinne, in you post you wrote “80s” – that is universally taken to refer to the whole decade, not just 1980.
And, in you post “80s” is an adjective qualifying the noun “newspapars” not a noun – so you cannot use the possesive form.
Ganni Borg: “Universally” by whom? Not by converted Ganni Borg, it seems. Oh, and ‘you’ is not a possessive form.
@Kev – I see your approach towards Joseph Muscat has softened magnificently. Would this have something to do with his decision to rehabilitate all those cast out by the Vigilance and Discipline Board, including your wife Sharon Ellul Bonici? Gearing up to be on the inside track, are we?
Ganni Borg: I notice that you’ve ignored Kieli’s reply to you. Now, that wouldn’t be because it makes sense, would it?
Albert Farrugia: get this, chew on it and digest it once and for all. The Nationalist Party can only oblige Pullicino Orlando to resign the party whip. It cannot oblige him to resign his seat in parliament. He has to do that of his own free will. And he doesn’t want to. So the story ends there and the Nationalist Party has no say in the matter. It has no say in the matter because it would be insane to demand that he resigns the whip given that the party has a one-seat majority. And all those people who are chattering on about how the party should cast him out fail to realise that if the party does so, we would have a parliamentary crisis, if not a constitutional crisis, just to satisfy the self-righteous rage and blood-hunger of some people, most of whom are in the Labour Party.
Where were you when Alfred Sant claimed that partnership won the referendum and refused to resign even though he drew down such great opprobrium on his party’s head? Or do I take it that, in your view, such a hideously anti-democratic statement, coupled with a policy designed to destabilise the country and prejudice its future, is less serious than an MP renting out a parcel of land to somebody who wants to build a nightclub?
Corinne Vella Thursday, 26 June 0959hrs
@ Ganni Borg: I’m afraid I can’t help you with your selective memory. That’s somethig (sic) that you’ll have to deal with on your own.
Head-banging is thought to be a sure cure for selective memory loss.
;P
MEPA revokes Mistra permit! A case of “Is-Sewwa jirbah zgur”?
What a rant, Ms DCG – looks like I touched a raw nerve.
Naturally, my last-but-one post should have read “your post” and “newspapers” – plse excuse.
Hi all,
Did you read this?
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20080625/local/man-accused-of-trying-to-blackmail-mp
Everybody is subject to make mistakes when writing. Some are due to luck of attention others to other causes. Mrs Daphne, read your sentence “There in no interest.” You omitted the “is”. Why? There are several reasons. This a reference to another subject
Others use a particular style to impress by writing unusual words for more simple ones. This style is known as precious in other languages. In English it could be translated into affected style. Mrs Daphne writings abounds in such words so much so that one has to look into a dictionary to discover what she means and more often than not, the word is not included in the dictionary.
I apologise. I myself omitted the “is” in my contribution. Every one is subject to make mistakes. I have admitted it.
Michael Debono, don’t make the mistake of confusing the act of hitting the wrong keyboard key with an inability to spell. Also, if you have to use a dictionary to read the very plain and simple English that I write, well…. Do you imagine that I choose these words to seem clever? No, I use them because they are the right words. In adulthood, we should have moved a little way beyond Janet and John walk up the hill to say hello to the farmer. I don’t think anybody should be apologising for typos. This blog isn’t going to print, for heaven’s sake.
Ganni Borg – a rant? More like the truth you don’t want to face: the last leader of the Labour Party was an excruciating (look it up, Michel Debono) embarrassment. And this leader is a walking, talking, prancing farce.
@Daphne – Your memory is quite short and biased. I was one of the first to say (on this blog) that Malta deserves this opportunist kid as PM. I also said that it does not really matter who the Prim Sindku is since it’s become a highly administrative function, especially for this island member-state – not the stuff for statesmen, at least not within current possibilities. Nothing’s changed there.
As to softening my stance, did you expect me to keep hammering at how disgruntled I am with Schulz’s choice? Joseph Muscat knows what I think of him politically and he also knows this will not change. I haven’t spoken ill of Gonzi for ages but it does not mean I support Gonzi.
My focus is maintaining an EU-critical faction within Labour, not changing its leadership. That, for me, is important. So it’s a wait-and-see stance, rather than anything else. Let’s just say that, given his olive-branch attitude, he is on indefinite probation. Otherwise, I am not a politician but a political activist, and I neither backstab, nor appease. But there is a time for everything and it’s certainly not bashing-Joseph-on-Daphne’s-blog time.
To conclude, the battle has only just begun.
@ Micheal Debono,
I think you have a problem if you need a dictionary to understand what Daphne writes! She gets right to the point and her pen is mightier than the sword!
@ MikeC Wednesday, 25 June 2058hrs To tell you the truth at the time I used to read IN – Taghna, and I use to believe what they wrote. I was quite young then but now that I’m older I realize that not everything was as IN-Taghna used to say. Why don’t you read the Times of Malta and use your brains.
“The labour party surrounded itself with violent people and even embedded them in the police force, which became an instrument of oppression rather than a protector of our citezenry.” Those same policemen were later promoted under a PN government. What I also remem ber is Fenech Adami and De Marco hyping us up “Fuq il-Fosos” I can still feel the hatred we had for the policeforce and the MLP supporters. I found it very hard to listen to what the MLP had to say in later years. It was only when Fenech Adami forgave Zeppi l-haffi and compensated RCC for being stabbed. That I started to realize we had all been taken for a ride. WAKE UP!
@ Corinne Vella Wednesday, 25 June 2203hrs “For the same reasons that non-Labour agent provocateurs would put bombs or their own or their neighbours’ doorsteps?” Well actually I came to the conclusion that there were thugs in both parties, and some others who, taking advantage of the political situation, planted bombs for their own personal reasons.
@ Lill-Xewka Wednesday, 25 June 2256hrs First of all, it’s compEnstion (dead elf giveaway). Actually it’s CompensAtion not compenstion (dead elf giveaway?)
“was actually at a house NEXT to the station” – Have you ever been near the Sliema Police station? Can you tell me which house is NEXT to the police station? The bomb was planted right under the window of the police station in Rudolph Street – there are no houses next to the police station.(Which newspaper did you read?)
@Corinne Vella, sorry to be a niggler, it may be Ghandi, but the film by Dickie Attenborough is called Gandhi. And Ben Kingsley’s character’s full name is Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Go figure!
I suppose this is similar to the 20 different ways of spelling Muammar al-Gaddafi! :)
@@Xewka
You are being disingenuous. You might consider applying for a job with the Zimbabwe Herald.
Or I could be generous and suggest that if you were young then you did not understand what was said to you at the meetings. Even assuming you WERE there and you DID read the nazzjon. Which is what we always called it, irrespective of anti-democratic laws passed by the MLP. Of course more often than not many of us needed to hide it for fear of getting beaten up for being in possession of it.
I was at those meetings but I did not feel hatred for the MLP supporters, the vast majority of whom were victims of Mintoff’s subversion of democracy on the same level as us, and hatred for them was not the message being broadcast. I felt hatred for the MLP thugs, some inside and some outside the police force, and that was perfectly justified. I felt even more hatred, disgust and revulsion for them when I read the sworn testimony of those who were beaten and tortured.
I too was very disappointed that not enough people were convicted, but in a situation where the police force was still controlled by these people its understandable, if not excusable. It is also an unfortunate principle of democracy and the rule of law that you cannot retroactively amend the statute of limitations. Many of these people did however fade away, and others who refused to fade where made to do so by the public service commission. Ultimately, it seems to me, a price was paid for peace and stability. One day we will know whether it was worth it, perhaps. Alfred Mifsud makes the same point today in the Independent about a similar tactic with the Drydocks. He thinks it wasn’t worth it. On that score, I tend to agree with him, but then again we’ll never know.
I have been using my brain for decades and apart from reading the Times of Malta, unlike you, I did not find it difficult to listen to the MLP at all, in fact I listened very, very, very hard. I am still listening. And am I still not happy with what I see and hear. For some reason the MLP continues to attract individuals (like you, for instance) who have a very tenous grasp on the princples of democracy and the rule of law (they still expect us to thank and praise them when they do what is expected of normal political parties on normal democracies)
Finally your comments about Zeppi il-hafi and RCC are either based in ignorance or downright malicious. Zeppi il-Hafi was not forgiven, he was given immunity from prosecution in a specific trial in exchange for giving evidence, a practice common in most modern democracies. The fact that the trial did not come to a satisfactory end is shameful, and the blame lies squarely with Alfred Sant and the labour party who subverted the course of justice by using a criminal trial for political ends. Yes, I listened to the MLP there, and what I heard them say was that they’d rather a drug runner went free as long as they could somehow score some political points off the government.
With respect to RCC, he was stabbed in the course of doing his job, in other words it was compensation for a job related injury, even if of a bizarre nature, and I find absolutely nothing wrong with his being compensated.
@ Mike C I don’t think you and I lived in the same island in the 80s. Maybe you did not go to the same meetings I attended, maybe you were not convinced (as I was that Fenech Adami was always right) Don’t you remember the boycott – we didn’t buy Kinnie, we didn’t buy materials from JB etc. We used to get orders from above what to buy and what not to buy, on IN–Taghna. I don’t care what anyone called it – that was its name. We even boycotted MLP supporters at work especially if they were in the GWU. They were our enemies – as for hiding any newspaper you must be joking – We used to buy In-Nazzjon and parade down the road showing it off. My friend’s mother used to go with the list to the grocer’s shop to tell him what to sell and what to hide. Maybe you were not one of us. We really believed it was right.
RCC might have been stabbed in the course of doing his job – but so was the policeman who was injured at the Sliema police station and so was another policeman who suffered back injuries when a stone fell from the roof of the NP club in Zebbug. These were never compensated – two weights and two measures.
As for Zeppi l-Haffi he was pardoned (or as you say given immunity) for cases not related to the one he gave evidence in. What drug runner went free -Zeppi l-hyaffi was accussed of drug running and granted immunity. Queiroz (I’m sorry I don’t know how to spell his surname) was also a drug runner he was also set free.When you know youths who were victims of these peoople4 you don’t differentiate between a drug runner who is PN or another who is MLP supporter. I want justice and no amount of legal jargon will convince me that Fenech Adami was right in giving these pardons.
You say – (they still expect us to thank and praise them when they do what is expected of normal political parties on normal democracies) Well at least they do what is expected etc. What about the PN government it has been found guilty of unfair practices and has not yet taken any remedial action. What about JPO he used his political power to get what he wanted and you all said very good man and voted for him sic. I can go on and on about all that is wrong with a PN government but of course you will tell me that I am undemocratic and an elf I was an elf when I supported the Front Freedom Fighters when they were a part of the PN
Kev: I’ve only just seen your reply about not having the time to write a blog. While hacking away at the coalface of supranationalism you still find the time to dive in here to criticise Lilliput. Surely it would be more effective to devote that time, pressed as you are, to more valuable pursuits – such as stimulating the debate you say is lacking? A blog needn’t take more time that it does to post comments here and elsewhere.
Chris I: That was a joke.
@Xewka
I remember the boycott and I supported it. I still do, and I still believe it was right. There was absolutely nothing wrong with it and if you think it was wrong then clearly you understood nothing of what was going on around you.
Product boycotts are used as instruments of peaceful democratic protest, political, environmentalist or other, the world over. The boycott was a weapon to attempt to force Xandir Malta to start behaving like a national TV station rather than the declared instrument of the production of ‘a socialist generation’. Xandir Malta was behaving like state television in the Soviet Union (with whom the labour goverment saw fit to make a pact) and the boycott was the right thing to do and nothing has happened since to make it any less so.
I’m not going to get into a lengthy debate about the stones falling off the Zebbug Band club which used to function also as a PN club. But let me remind you that these people were shot at by the army from the church bell tower, attacked by a labour mob (who tore apart the balustrades on the church square to use the stones as ammunition) and the police themselves. Then, as happens in police states, they, the actual victims, were arrested and tortured at the depot. Eventually they were acquitted, rightly so, but almost 9 years later. What are you suggesting? That some policeman should get compensated for hurting his foot whilst kicking the shit out of them?
Agsin, there is a huge difference between Queiroz (I can’t spell it either) and Zeppi il-hafi. Queroz (nope, still can’t spell it) was sent to serve his sentence in his country because it was considered that his disease was contagious and costly to treat. It may have been an error of judgement but there was certainly no intention to send a message that drug runners can get off scot free.
Again, Zeppi il-hafi was not given a pardon, he was given immunity from prosecution in one specific case, and was prosecuted on the other cases. The case in which he was given immunity is where he admitted being paid to arrange the attempt on RCC’s life and testified against the person he said paid him. Of course the MLP decided they could make political capital by destroying his credibility as a witness, so not only was HE not prosecuted, his client got off scot free AS WELL.
You supported the freedom front fighters? Have you forgotten who led them? Don’t you listen to him today? I’m tempted to say you must have been as crazy and warped then as you are now, but I don’t believe a word of it, you never went anywhere near a PN meeting, except maybe to throw stones and bottles at those attending.
Now go help father christmas make some toys…..
@MikeC
Regarding the boycott, one must not forget that the products boycotted were protected from competition by the state anyway so hardly suffered, besides most of the products were not fit for consumption anyway, my childhood was one without chocolate for example!!